Living in a commune-like camping area on Big Pine Key in the 1970s, Catherine and Veronica encounter many interesting characters. When Veronica goes missing, Catherine will end up spending decades wondering what happened. When Catherine finally returns to Key West, she convinces Hayley to help investigate Veronica’s disappearance.

This is book 14 in the Key West Food Critic mystery series. Haley’s reputation for investigating seems to have surpassed her reputation as a food critic columnist. Haley investigates a decades old disappearance of a teen who was living in a mangrove camping area on Big Pine Key. Hayley meets the most diverse group of suspects so far in this series.

A Poisonous Palate by Lucy Burdette

Crab Cakes and Avocado Mango Salsa

from a cozy mystery novel:

A Poisonous Palate

by Lucy Burdette

Book Outline and Tone:

Hayley Snow is asked to help find a missing woman. Catherine used to live on the island of Big Pine Key, just up the chain of islands from Key West, when she was a teen who left her family with her friend Veronica and ended up living in a hippie-like communal camping area. Veronica is ‘that’ girl, everyone likes her, all the men want her, and she can be exhausting to Catherine. It’s Veronica who went missing and now decades later Catherine asks Hayley to help find her.

The characters in this story are just that, characters. There is no shortage of strong and interesting characters that Hayley investigates. It would take people with counter cultural personalities to want to live by camping on an island and eating communal food. There were so many characters that I did not ever make a correct guess at the outcome. I did have to re-read a chapter to make sure I had all the characters figured out.

Hayley, Miss Gloria, and Hayley’s family are supportive, loving and people I would love to have as part of my family. These main characters form a solid base to Hayley’s investigations and connections that the reader will want to come back to book after book.

The Best Quote:

“Miss Gloria returned from the restroom and came over to see what we were looking at. ‘Ginny was showing me Catherine’s gang and reminiscing about the good old days.’ ‘If that’s the right description,’ Ginny said sharply. ‘Give me a firm mattress and a working bathroom and a stove with an oven these days. No communal decisions either.’”

Point of View:

The novel is told in first person from Hayley’s perspective.

The Author: Lucy Burdette

Like so many cozy mystery authors, Lucy Burdette is a pen name for Roberta Isleib; she is a clinical psychologist and author of three book series. She has written 12 books in the Key West Food Critic series and book 13 is due to be released in 2023. She is also the author of a Golf Mystery Series and the Advice Column Mysteries. Many of her books have been on the short lists for awards and The Key Lime Crime won a bronze medal in the Florida Book Awards. She is active on many social platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. She also has an active Pinterest account. On Goodreads, she does a great job answering questions. Be sure to reach out to her on some platform to let her know you enjoyed her book.

What is not to like?:

I would love a character map! List the characters and a brief description. That would help me in every book.

The verdict:

This is book 14 and as soon as I finished, I made plans to read book 15. This is a fantastic series.

Disclaimer: In the name of full transparency, please be aware that this blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost for you).

Crab Cakes with Avocado Mango Salsa

Assemble the Ingredients

Hayley Snow’s mother, Janet, in the Key West Food Critic Mysteries is a caterer whose reputation has blossomed in Key West. She caters the spread for Hayley’s friend and coworker Danielle’s rehearsal dinner, including these crab cakes. She makes mini cakes, topped with an avocado and mango salsa. I hope you find them to die for, but not literally!

Mix the ingredients from the scallions, celery, Worcestershire.

Celery seed, paprika, cayenne, salt, pepper

Dijon mustard, mayonnaise, and eggs.

Then fold in the crab meat and the breadcrumbs, sorting through the crab as you go to make sure no cartilage or shell remains.

Shape the crab mixture into ½ cup-size cakes. This should result in six cakes. If they are to be served as appetizers, make them smaller. Refrigerate for an hour or more to help the mixture set.

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Add crab cakes. Sauté them until brown, then flip carefully and continue to sauté the other side.

Serve with avocado and mango salsa or cocktail sauce (one part horseradish to two parts ketchup).

Avocado Mango Salsa

Assemble the Ingredients

Cut the mango and avocado into small chunks. Mix this gently with the onion, cilantro, and jalapeno.

Squeeze lime juice over the top and drizzle with the olive oil. Then add salt and pepper to taste.

Add salt, pepper, and oil. Gently stir.

You could also serve this with pan-fried yellowtail snapper or Key West pink shrimp. You could even serve it with tortilla chips as an appetizer.

Crab Cakes and Avocado Mango Salsa

Hayley Snow's mother, Janet, in the Key West Food Critic Mysteries is a caterer whose reputation has blossomed in Key West. She caters the spread for Hayley's friend and coworker Danielle's rehearsal dinner, including these crab cakes. She makes mini cakes, topped with an avocado and mango salsa. I hope you find them to die for, but not literally!

You could also serve this with pan-fried yellowtail snapper or Key West pink shrimp. You could even serve it with tortilla chips as an appetizer.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10

Chill Time 1

Course Appetizer, dinner

Cuisine American, cajun, creole, fish, seafood

Servings 6 pieces

Ingredients

Crab Cakes

1 pound crab meat, picked over to remove bits of shell
½ cup panko or fresh breadcrumbs
2 scallions, finely minced
1 stick celery, finely minced
¼ tsp celery seed or salt
½ tsp paprika
¼ tsp cayenne
1½ tsp Dijon Mustard
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2½ Tbsp mayonnaise
Fresh black pepper
2 eggs
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter

Avocado Mango Salsa

1 large ripe mango
2 ripe avocados
1 Tbsp minced red onion or 2 scallions
1 Tbsp minced jalapeno, or to taste
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
½ lime
1-2 tsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Crab Cakes

Mix the ingredients from the scallions to the eggs.
Then fold in the crab meat and the breadcrumbs, sorting through the crab as you go to make sure no cartilage or shell remains.
Shape the crab mixture into ½ cup-size cakes. This should result in six cakes. If they are to be served as appetizers, make them smaller. Refrigerate for an hour or more to help the mixture set.
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Add crab cakes. Sauté them until brown, then flip carefully and continue to sauté the other side.
Serve with avocado and mango salsa or cocktail sauce (one part horseradish to two parts ketchup).

Avocado Mango Salsa

Cut the mango and avocado into small chunks. Mix this gently with the onion, cilantro, and jalapeno.
Squeeze lime juice over the top and drizzle with the olive oil. Then add salt and pepper to taste.
You could also serve this with pan-fried yellowtail snapper or Key West pink shrimp. You could even serve it with tortilla chips as an appetizer.

Keyword avocado, crab, crab cake, mango, salsa, savory

What would I do differently next time?

For these I used canned lump crab meat. The meat looked great and was substantial if not a bit fishy. Next time I will spend the money to buy fresher, better crab from the deli’s refrigerated aisle. This recipe is too good to go cheap!